Friday, 17 February 2012

On Two Wheels

“On
Two Wheels” by Ian Bax (pictured) of
Roy Jervis, Ripley.

By the time you read this Christmas
will be well and truly over, apart from, for a lot of us, the “did
I really spend that much” credit card bill and the extra inches and
pounds we seem to have received from

Santa’s festive treats!
Unfortunately I can’t help with the credit card bill (well yours
anyway!) but maybe we can do something to help shed the unwanted
pounds. GET ON YA BIKE!

As I sit and write this article with
just 10 days to go till Christmas we are busy at the shop building,
preparing and storing bicycles and scooters of all shapes and sizes
ready for Santa to collect and deliver to kids of all ages and
cycling abilities. I love seeing kids out on the street on Christmas
morning riding their new bikes, especially when we’ve sold them!

Cycling is life enhancing, not only is
it a mode of transport but it’s a balancing act, a tool for
exploratory play and a form of exercise all wrapped up in an
eco-friendly package. Did you know that cycling is by far the most
popular sport related exercise among children?

For kids, learning to ride a bike is a
key rite of passage giving them a great sense of independence,
enabling them to undertake journeys that were too boring or too far
to walk previously and making them fun and exciting. Cycling enables
children to explore new places, meet up with friends and make new
friends that were out of their reach before.

Obviously there are risks with cycling;
bicycles can be fast, a lot faster than running which, in itself, is
an attraction for many children. I’m sure many of us used to build
ramps and tracks to see how far we could push ourselves and our
trusty steeds! Children do hurt themselves on bikes; I did, but most
injuries are slight and every knock is a learning experience and that
is no reason to limit their rides to weekends with adult supervision.

As a kid I would spend most summer days
during the school holidays with my best mate Chris out on our bikes
going for miles with only a water bottle, some sandwiches and a few
pennies for sweets! For those of you who have read my previous
articles and have some idea of my age you will know that we didn’t
have mobile phones either! We loved it, regularly clocking up 50
miles or more and discovering places we didn’t know existed, our
favourite being “Stone Rocks” at Weirwood Reservoir in Sussex
(I’m a Southerner, don’t hold it against me!) where we would
climb the rocks and meet up with like-minded kids.

We didn’t even have cycle helmets in
those days something which should be a must today and as familiar to
kids as putting their seat belt on in a car.

Well 500 words is fast approaching, so
let me just end by saying that not only is cycling fantastic for
children’s development and general health, but it is also something
that we can all get a massive benefit from, keeping us healthy in
body and mind and giving us an activity that we can do as a family.

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